NoVA fosters a great mindset for a success

I know this isn’t everyone’s experience growing up in Northern Virginia, but something I’ve realized after living here my entire life is how unusual the baseline expectations can be. Growing up, going to college never felt like a major accomplishment or even much of a decision; it was just what everyone was doing. Every single one of my friends graduated from college, and at my public high school I knew very few people who weren’t planning some kind of degree or career path. I was also lucky that hard drugs, serious crime, and a lot of the problems you hear about elsewhere barely existed in my social environment.

For better or for worse, there was constant comparison of whose grades were better, who got into what school, or who had the better job lined up. NoVA gets criticized for being expensive and overly career-focused, and I understand why. But I think the flip side of that culture is that ambition becomes incredibly normalized and you are around incredibly smart and driven people all the time. There are definitely unhealthy parts of that pressure, but I think growing up in such a well rounded area is something that is very unique and can absolutely be a positive for many people growing up here.